High speed device for feeding data carrying documents such as cards and checks



N0V- 19, 1968 G. GATTI 3,411368 HIGH SPEED DEVICE FOR FEEDING DATAA CARRYING DOCUMENTS SUCH AS CARDS AND CHECKS med oct. a, 1965 INVENTOR GIANCARLO GATTI United States Patent O 3,411,768 HIGH SPEED DEVICE FOR FEEDING DATA CARRYING DOCUMENTS SUCH AS CARDS AND CHECKS Giancarlo Gatti, Varese, Italy, assignor to Olivetti- General Electric S.p.A., Caluso, Turin, Italy, a corporation of Italy Filed Oct. 8, 1965, Ser. No. 493,991 3 Claims. (Cl. 271-10) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE An improved high speed device for feeding documents comprising separating means for removing documents from a Stack, one by one, feeding the documents alternately through one of two paths to an aligning means and stopping member, thence changing the direction of the movement of the card.

This invention relates to devices for feeding data carrying documents, such as cards or bank checks, at high speed and more particularly devices of the type which comprises means for feeding a document at a time in .a given direction, in order to align it against a fixed stop member, and means for moving the documents in a direction perpendicular to the initial one, for the purpose of feeding it, for example, to a reading apparatus.

In the prior art feeding devices of this type, it is necessary, in order to prevent two consecutive documents from coming in contact during the aligning and feeding operation, that each document be removed completely from the fixed stop member before the subsequent document may be pushed against t-he stop member. This results in a slowing-down of the feeding operation.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a feeding device, wherein a document may be fed from a starting position to an aligning position prior in time to the time when a preceding document has completely left the l.aligning position, while at the same time preventing any contact between the two documents, thus ensuring a greater feeding speed.

Another object of the present invention is to provide means for facilitating the separation of each document from a stack of documents, the documents being in general of a rectangular form, with one side considerably longer than the other.

The following is a description of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the feeding device, according to the invention;

FIG 2 is a sectional View along line II-I-I of FIG. 1.

With reference to FIG. 1, a stack of documents 3, such as cards or bank checks, -are shown resting with their longer side on a fixed plate 4, which has a bent portion 5 so that the stack 3 is inclined downward.

A movable plate 6, which can slide horizontally on a shaft 7, is tensioned by a spring 8, against stack 3, and the said stack is forced, at rest, against an oscillating plate 9. The oscillating plate 9, is carried by a rotatable shaft 11, which is in turn carried by the frame of the device.

Shaft 11 also carries two arms 12 (FIG. 2), each 3,411,768 Patented Nov. 19, 1968 ICC separation of the documents, comprising three rollers 19 having a high friction coefficient. Each one of the said rollers 19 is located in correspondence with a window 21 (FIG. 2) of plate 9 and each is fixed on a shaft 22 Iwhich is continuously rotating counterclockwise (FIG. l).

Two rollers 24 (FIG. 2) interleaved lwith rollers 19, are carried by another shaft 23 and are continuously rotating counterclockwise. Two pressure rollers 26 (FIG. 1), freely rotatable on a pin 27 carried by lever 28 |which is pivoted on a fixed shaft 29 and is pus-hed in a counterclockwise -direction by spring 31, cooperate with said rollers 24. The portion 5 of plate 4 is terminated by a border 32 bent downward and provided with two recesses 33 corresponding to rollers 24.

In correspondence with each recess 33 there is a blade 34 (FIG. l), of a material having a high-friction co-efficient, which projects from border 32 toward rollers 24. Both blades 34 are carried by a fixed plate 35.

The feeding device is also provided with aligning means adapted to push the document downward and includes an aligning roller 36, rotatable on -a pin 37 in a Clockwise direction under friction drive. Pin 37 is carried by a lever 38 which is pivoted on axle 29 and co-functions with cam 39 mounted on primary shaft "18 Through two windows 40 of the xed plates 41 and 42, roller 36 when at rest, is tensioned by spring 43 against a pressure roller 44 rotatable on a fixed pin 46, in such a way, that the documents are carried against a bar 47 fixed to both plates 41 and 42.

Between rollers 36 and 44 and bar 47 there is a pair of feeding rollers 48 continuously rotating on vertical shafts, `at a speed considerably higher than the speed of rollers 19, 24 and 36; said rollers 44 feed the document, aligned on bar 47, to the right. Rollers 48 are normally held at a distance between them, and can be carried one :against the other in a cyclical way, by means already known in the art.

Finally, the feeding device is provided with switching devices adapted to guide the documents to be aligned, through one of the two alternative paths. Said means comprise an oscillating plate 49 (FIG. 1) located between the fixed plates 41 and 42 and provided, in proximity to roller 36, with a recess 50 (FIG. 2.). Plate 49 is carried by two arms 51 pivoted around two fixed pins 52 and connected, through a pin-and-slot arrangement, with two levers 53, only one of which is represented in FIG. 1.

Each lever 53 is pivoted on a fixed pin 54 and when at rest, is tensioned, under the action of spring 55, against cam 56 carried by a rotatable shaft 57. The toothed wheel 58, fixed on the same shaft 57, engages a pinion 59 having a diameter equal to half of the diameter of wheel 58 and fixed on primary shaft I18. Therefore, shaft 57 will perform half a turn to every cycle of the primary shaft 18.

The feeding device operates according to the following description.

The feeding device executes a completely cycle for each document to be fed therethrough. At the commencement of the cycle the feed rollers 48 are brought into reciprocal contact, while cam 39 rotates lever 38 clockwise, removing the aligning roller 36 from the pressure roller 44. At the same time both cams 56 on the shaft 57 rotate levers 53 clockwise. As a result both arms 51 are rotated counterclockwise as is plate 49.

Thus the document being fed through the device is directed to follow a path between the oscillating plate 49 and the fixed plate 41. At the same time cam 17 of primary shaft 18 allows lever 14 to rotate counterclockwise together with plate 9 and rollers 13, which are removed from contact with the document stack 3. The moving plate v6, under the action of spring 8, pushes the stack 3 against rollers 19. Rollers 19 push the first document downward, while the following document, due to their reciprocal friction, come to lean on the inclined portion 5 of plate 6. The inclination of the portion 5 is so chosen, that the friction of the edge of the documents on portion 5 is smaller than the friction of rollers r19 on said documents, but greater than the reciprocal friction between documents.

The first document, therefore, overcomes the friction between its edge and portion 5, and is pushed between rollers 24 and 26 sending it between plates 49 and 41. In the event a document, in addition to the first one, reaches the bent border 32 of portion 5, at a point in correspondence with the recesses 33, the additional documents meeting the blades 34 are subject to a further increase of friction and are stopped thereat.

When the first document is taken over by rollers 24 and 26, cam 17 permits lever 14 to rotate clock-wise and to resume the initial position represented in FIG. l. The plate 9 and the rollers 13 move the stack 3 away from rollers 19, and therefore no other document can be driven by rollers 19 towards rollers 24 and 26. During this action the documents, which are closest to rollers 19, are restrained, in their backward motion, by inclined portion 5 and their lower portion is bent toward rollers 19, therefore facilitating the separation of subsequent document in the following cycle.

When the `first document is caught between rollers 36 and 44, cam 39 of shaft 18 allows lever 38 to rotate counterclockwise and therefore roller 36 tensions the document against roller 44. In the meantime rollers 48 are being separated and the document is moved by rollers 36 and 44 against ibar 47.

Toward the end of the cycle cams 56 of shaft S7 begin to rotate levers 53 counterclockwise. At the end of the first cycle plate 49 is again brought to the center position, but cams 56 have been rotated by 180 in respect to the position shown in FIG. 1.

The second cycle of shaft 18 immediately follows the first cycle. There-fore cams 56 continue their clockwise rotation, and, through levers 53 and arms 51, brings plate 49 toward plate `41, thus providing a different path, between plate 49 and plate 42, for the following document.

Simultaneously, cam 47 removes roller 36 from contact with roller 44, rollers 48 are brought together and rapidly feed the first document, already aligned on bar 47 to the right.

As rollers 48 feed the first document to the right, rollers 19 and 24 are pushing the second document downward between plate 42 and oscillating plate 49. The plate 49, prevents the second document from coming in contact with the first one. When the rst document has been completely removed by rollers `48 said rollers are separated and roller 36 is brought in contact with roller 44. The remaining part of the second cycle is analogous to the corresponding part of the first cycle: at the end of the second cycle cam 56 returns in the position shown in FIG. l, and the oscillating plate 49 is brought into the central position.

It should be understood that the foregoing disclosure relates only to a preferred embodiment of the invention and that it is intended to cover all changes, modifications, improvements and .addition of parts, to the example of the invention herein chosen for the purposes of the disclosure, which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A device for :feeding documents, comprising, in combination, carrying means for accommodating a stack of documents, pushing means for pushing said stack of documents in a first direction, separating means for displacing one document at a time from said stack and Ifeeding said document to an aligning means for moving said `displaced document in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction and toward a fixed stopping member, and switching means interposed between said separating means and said aligning means for guiding said document alternately along one of two alternative paths to said stopping member, and feeding means to successively carry each document in a single plane in a third direction perpendicular to said first and second directions.

2. A device for feeding documents, comprising, in combination, carrying means, pushing means and separatng means, said separating means including a substantially horizontal plate on which the edges of the documents lean, and having an incline-d portion adapted to incline said stack towards said separating means, said separating means including a continuously rotating roller for displacing one -document at a time from said stack in a plane parallel to said stack, and oscillating members for cyclically removing said roller from said stack.

3. A device for feeding documents, comprising, in combination, carrying means, pushing means, separating means for feeding one document at a time to an aligning means including a fixed stop member, switching means interposed between said separating means and said aligning means, said switching means comprising two passages having a common movable plate therebetween, means for moving said plate to `alternately feed a document through each passage and to said stop member of said aligning means in sequential order without overlap of the respective documents.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,860,554 ll/l958 Shields 2771-64 X 3,021,950 2/1962 Quinn et al 209--l1l.7 X 3,214,096 10/1965 Buchholz et al. 271---36` X ALLEN N. KNO-WLES, Primary Examiner. 

